Having reached a working agreement with other opposition parties prior to the inauguration of the parliament, the Peoples Democratic Party has declared that the ruling All Progressives Congress will find itself a minority party on the floor of both houses on Tuesday, ending weeks of speculation regarding its position on the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.
At a press conference held on Thursday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Debo Ologunagba, the party’s spokesman, revealed this.
Even though the PDP may run candidates for both positions, the main opposition’s scribe said that it would be more obvious on Tuesday when the 10th Assembly was inaugurated.
He claims that the PDP-aligned members are united and that the opposition parties are prepared to use their size to influence who becomes the Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker.
Speaking to reporters there, Ologunagba said that because the parliament is the embodiment of democracy, it must be safeguarded against anti-democratic elements. He continued by saying that the party is coordinating with its representatives-elect in both chambers to create a united front in front of Tuesday’s inauguration.
“With regard to the current race for the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, it is instructive to note that the opposition parties put together to form a strong majority in the National Assembly and we are very mindful of that.
“The PDP leadership is working together with our members-elect and opposition parties in the two chambers.
“Irrespective of the ongoing and claims in the media, I want to inform you that the PDP has a clear direction which we hold close to our chest. Our members are united in that direction and it will show on the floor of both Houses of the National Assembly on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
“In all, we do not discountenance the fact that the opposition parties have the majority in the National Assembly which we are ready to deploy maximally,” he said.
In a dig at the APC, the opposition party said that both the government organization and the Independent National Electoral Commission were conspiring to thwart the pursuit of justice at the different election petition tribunals across the nation.
“INEC is seeking to frustrate the court and derail the cause of justice,” Ologunagba said.
Additionally, he denounced what he called the assault on PDP members at the locations of the Election Petition Tribunal in the states of Ogun, Nasarawa, and Kaduna.
The attacks, in Ologunagba’s words, “is a ploy by the APC to instill fear in the judiciary so as to derail the cause of justice.”
He added that the PDP pressed for live coverage of tribunal hearings so that Nigerians could watch events as they happened, but the tribunal rejected the proposal.
The PDP urged that the Ogun and Nasarawa States’ Election Tribunals be moved right away to Abuja for reasons of safety and justice in light of the alleged attacks.
Godswill Akpabio, Orji Kalu, and Osita Izunaso, three former PDP leaders, are vying for the position of Senate President, while Abbas Tajudeen, Mukhtar Batera, and Idris Wase, all APC members, are the front-runners for the position of Speaker of the House.
Akpabio and Abbas were previously endorsed by the APC leadership for the positions of Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President, respectively.
The APC produced 59 Senators after the parliamentary elections on February 25, leaving the opposition parties with 50. The opposition parties have 182 representatives in the House of Representatives, compared to 177 for the ruling party.
Ismaila Mainhanchi, a representative-elect for the PDP from Taraba State, passed very soon after being elected, leaving the opposition with just one representative.
